Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Meeting Notes Sept. 5th, 2019 5pm – 7pm NDS Conference Room Members in Attendance:  Carl Schwarz  Stephen Bach  Erin Ryan  Will Lee  Frank Diviney  Cort Hammond  Jessica Hersh-Ballering  Mike Smith  Dave Stackhouse  Kevin Cox  Kyle Rodland  Brian Parrish  Peter Krebs  Amanda Poncy Bicycle and Pedestrian Virtual Reality Lab at UVA – Austin Angulo & Erin Robartes Austin Angulo and Erin Robartes who are graduate students at UVA came and presented to BPAC about a new tool that they are developing with ORCL. The virtual reality simulator could potentially be used to test knowledge of proper use of road infrastructure, travel patterns/preferences, potential infrastructure changes,  ORCL – Omni-Reality & Cognition Lab  Goal is to develop virtual environments designed to simulate real-world roadways o The simulator is designed to collect data on: user reactions and use of facilities, physiological response data (HR indicates stress), and stated preference of perceived comfort o Researchers can change how road is laid out to study impact of various facilities and if participant knows how to use them o Currently, they are developing Water St in virtual environment in order to study Bicycle and Pedestrian comfort and issues.  Hoping to test 180 people in VR  Simulator tells rider participant they have crashed and will include sound in the virtual environment eventually. CIP Process Update – Amanda Poncy Amanda Poncy gave an update on coming changes in NDS and how that will affect CIP structure.  Engineering, including traffic, will move to Public Works effective Sept. 30 th  Staff have submitted budgets for the year, but the process has changed o Sidewalks on Stribling Rd. were submitted, but funding is not likely  CIP is awarded in July, but requests for funding are submitted a year in advance  Thursday Sept. 12 work session, CitySpace Bike Ped Awareness Month – Amanda Poncy Amanda Poncy gave an update on what is already planned for Bicycle and Pedestrian Awareness Month. BPAC discussed what type of tactical urbanism they wanted to pursue and ultimately decided to temporarily change the bike lane on West Main St. to a buffered bike lane using traffic cones or other objects. BPAC also discussed the idea of leading a social ride or community walk with the intent of showing city councilors, upper level staff, and possibly candidates, the importance of Bike/Ped issues. Sub-committees were formed to plan these two events.  Items that are already planned or in process o Developing/editing a video o Social media scheduled to go out  Tactical Urbanism o The decision was to “cone” West Main St. o Other ideas were;  Put chalk on Belmont Bridge to illustrate traffic patterns and violations?  Or use physical barriers to create a protected bike lane  Temporarily install a contraflow on Second and/or Fourth St. using cones or other barriers  Back to school nights o BPAC could table and/or support Safe Routes to School o See “Upcoming Events” for a complete list  Schedule a social ride and/or Community walk? o Specifically hosting city councilors, city manager, head of Pub Works,  How possible is it to invite candidates? o A main reason for this event would be the opportunity to show the importance of Bike/Ped issues o The event would also have to be open to the public Sidewalk Closures: Next Steps – Peter Ohlms Peter Ohlms opened and facilitated a discussion about what the next step should be to address policy failures to provide safe alternative routes to pedestrians when the sidewalks are closed.  Talked about past practices and how to improve o Alt route, detour signs  Previous conclusion: improvements made, but not good yet  Need to write a memo? o Present to council o Should be rooted in failure of current policy and procedure and process  Closure needs to have an alternate pedestrian route, signs, and … o Base alternate route acceptable length on travel time rather than dist.? o Can BPAC propose alt routes on trails?  Forming sub-committee to write memo o Dave Stackhouse, Carl Schwarz, David Smith, Peter O. Goals for Outreach and Increasing Diversity Committee – Mike Smith Mike Smith opened and facilitated a discussion about the direction of the Outreach and Diversity Sub-Committee. The discussion revolved around using outreach as a means to increase diversity on the committee and the diversity of thoughts and opinions that are brought to BPAC. o Mike Smith asked that BPAC consider splitting Outreach and Diversity into two Committees  Is there enough interest for two different sub-committees?  Survey intended to address goal for Outreach only  Way to assess current level of outreach o Outreach  The thoughts on outreach were: o It is the method for BPAC to be a channel to council for Bike/Ped concerns  Therefore not a goal so much as a means to an end o It is the means to achieve increase in diversity  Ensure that BPAC is hearing concerns from a diverse audience as well as potentially attracting a more diverse membership o Rather than split into two sub-committees the decision was to have a focus group within the Outreach Sub-committee to ensure that Outreach was being done equitably to reach a diverse audience o There was brief discussion on what materials to use for outreach  A banner with BPAC’s logo is needed  How to standardize what materials are used?  I.E. official boiler plate or a One-Pager Standards and Design Manual (SaDM) Memo Update – Carl Schwarz Carl Schwarz gave a brief update on the status of the SaDM and volunteered to write a memo to City Council  Memo to remind Council of what was discussed in previous meetings o Specifically to change zoning to allow properties to front on a street that’s not a fire access route  Workshop meeting on Sept.30th. See “Upcoming Events” for more info Downtown Mall Crossings –Carl Schwarz Carl Schwarz facilitated a discussion that was aimed at figuring out BPAC’s position on potential mall crossing closings. An anti-terrorism security study has been conducted, but the findings have not been made public. BPAC wanted to prepare in order to be able to respond efficiently and clearly if necessary.  Background information o Neighbors and residents wanted to close crossings following Aug. 12th, 2017 and started a petition asking Council to do so  Businesses lobbied to keep crossings open saying that closures disrupt their ability to do business by making it hard to receive deliveries and by reducing parking for patrons.  The petition to close crossings has been withdrawn, but there is still concern/interest in the idea of closing the crossings. o Anti-terrorism study for downtown was done, results have not been released, but changes to crossings have probably been proposed o The crossings are closed regularly for Friday’s After Five events, so this may offer a reference point for how traffic patterns may work without the crossings.  There was also concern about how the Belmont Bridge Project will affect traffic patterns during construction. It was also noted that there will be a need for suitable bike and pedestrian detours.  BPAC took a vote to see who was in favor of closing the crossings o Vote result: No one present was in favor of closing the crossings o However, several members noted that modifications to the intersections may be appropriate. o The result of the vote is that BPAC is comfortable keeping things as is  Additional thoughts that came out of the discussion were: o BPAC should also audit the security study so to be able to add a second opinion on pedestrian safety o The purpose of BPAC is the safety of cyclists and pedestrians and as such the official opinion should be guided by the purpose. o Traffic data is desired to better inform BPAC’s opinion Strategic Investment Area Form-Based Code Update – Carl Schwarz Carl Schwarz gave an update on the SIA Form-Based Code Open House at TJPDC on Sept. 4th. Members of BPAC were encouraged to send in their comments on relevant traffic related items.  Main points that were brought are: o There was no option for providing a standard bike lane  Only options for sharrows or buffered bike lanes behind parked cars o The code was focused on small block lengths  It includes a 4 acre threshold for dividing blocks  Can comment online o The time to comment is now Follow up Items:  Carl will send an email to form subcommittees o Sidewalk closure Memo writing, Outreach, Community Walk/Bike ride, Tactical Urbanism  Official boiler plate pitch – Outreach Subcommittee  SaDM memo – Carl  Form Based Code – Carl will email out Bike/Ped related items so members can send in relevant comments Upcoming events:  Sept. 4th - SIA Form Based Code Open House, TJPDC, 401 East Water Street, 6– 8PM.  Sept. 5th - SIA Form Based Code Open House, CitySpace, 100 5th Street, NE., 6– 8PM.  Sept. 10th – Walker Elem. Back to School Night, 6 – 8pm  Sept. 12th - CIP Council Work session, City Space, 6PM  Sept. 16th – CHS Back to School Night 5:30 – 7:30pm  Sept. 17th – Back to School Night @ Burnley-Moran (5:30-7pm), Clark (5:30-7pm), Greenbrier (6–7:30pm), Jackson-Via (6–7:30pm), and Johnson (6-7:15pm)  Sept. 19th – Venable Back to School Night & Pot Luck, 5:30 – 7pm  Sept. 28th - Bike Your Park Day  Sept. 30th - Standards and Design Manual PC/Council Worksession, CitySpace, 5-8PM  Oct. 2nd - Emmet/Barracks Public Meeting, CitySpace, 100 5th Street, NE., 5– 8PM  Oct. 2nd – Walk to School Day  Oct. 3rd - Next BPAC Meeting, City Hall, NDS Conference Room